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MexicoTed
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Has anyone seen this in the backroads of Baja?
A couple weeks ago a group of us were driving across the mountains from Bahia Concepcion to La Purisima when we came across these dead animals strung
up on both sides of a side road. We had many ideas on why someone would hang up these carcasses but would like to here if any of you know why someone
would do this.

Appears to be a hawk and the legs of a bobcat?

Bobcats & a Coyote

Bobcats?
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Skipjack Joe
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Pendejos.
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goldhuntress
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That is HORRIBLE!!! What the heck is wrong with people! Very sad these beautiful animals lives ended this way. And I have no idea why someone would
do this.
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Mulegena
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Here's your definitive answer.
To come across something like this which, to our eyes and sensibilities, is at the very least odd leads to some unsettling thoughts.
Here's the answer as to why you encountered this rather bizarre scene. I showed these pix to my husband who was born and raised up in La Purisima. His
relatives are still there and we visit frequently. People up there are either goat ranchers or make the beautiful petate mats woven from the cane that
grows along the river or engage in other craftwork.
These gorgeous cats were killed by goat ranchers because they were stalking and eating the animals. The hawk because it was hunting the young chicks.
They were left hanging on the roadside to inform other ranchers that this ongoing problem had been addressed. A simple yet gruesome means of
communication among the ranchers who have no phones or other more direct means of speaking with one another.
Its a different world up there, on one hand beautiful and romantically idyllic and on the other hand rough and primitive. The awareness of the
harshness of life that both man and animal face on a daily basis is no more apparent than in these photos you've posted.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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mcfez
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Why wouldn't the ranchers sell the hides...or processed the hides? There are a variety of uses, including shoes, clothing, horse tack, horse harness,
upholstery and even wall or other surface coverings.
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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Marc
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People do what they have to do.
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paranewbi
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"Why wouldn't the ranchers sell the hides...or processed the hides? There are a variety of uses, including shoes, clothing, horse tack, horse harness,
upholstery and even wall or other surface coverings."
"They were left hanging on the roadside to inform other ranchers that this ongoing problem had been addressed. A simple yet gruesome means of
communication among the ranchers who have no phones or other more direct means of speaking with one another."
Obviously no cell coverage.
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Curt63
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Mulegenas answer makes perfect sense to me. I hate to see the grotesque display of these beautiful creatures, but they were threatening the livelihood
of the ranchers.
Ranch life is a different world.
No worries
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Mulegena
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I hate this too and mourn the loss of these beautiful creatures.
Their pelts cannot be sold or used in any way. There are laws in place strictly prohibiting this.
Unfortunately, this is the ranchers' only recourse to protect their livelihood.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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But just let someone, anyone, try this north of the border, no matter how poor they might be!
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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Udo
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I hope I don't see it in Baja!
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Skipjack Joe
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Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
But just let someone, anyone, try this north of the border, no matter how poor they might be! |
Exactly!
If we saw dead timber wolves hanging from a fence in Montana there would be such an outrage. Why have a different standard in baja?
A raptor in exchange for a chicken? Seems a bit unbalanced to me. Why not keep the chicks in protected areas? Isn't the rancher responsible for
something? In the US they are.
Hanging 3 bobcats to display their danger to other ranchers. Wouldn't one have been enough?
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bonanza bucko
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Anybody who ever lived on a ranch or farm that was surrounded by predators of the livestock is familiar with this. Life and death is an every day
fact to people such as we are. We love all animals for their beauty and cunning but we also eat them and kill them when they threaten our livelihood
or families.
If you think that the beautiful timber wolves which have been repopulated in Yellowstone should be licensed to go to ranches outside of Yellowstone
and eat livestock you probably belong in the city where you wonder if chocolate milk comes from brown cows....no kidding, I've heard that.
We now have a draught in the corn and beans country in the midwest and we have had the water shut off to the southern quarter of the San Joaquin
Valley where a lot of tree and row crops have filled the super market shelves for years.....shut off by a federal judge to protect a one inch fish
from a pump in the river. The people who get upset over a bob cat's hide on a tree in La Purisima may discover that life and death on the farm can
translate into hunger and starvation of nice folks who don't know exactly where their food gets produced.
I know and expect that this post will produce outrage and all kinds of replies. Don't bother.. I won't' read them.
BB
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Barry A.
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Less than 30 years ago, in the western ranching areas of the USA, this use to be common practice--------I saw hundreds of coyotes hanging on fences
thruout Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and western Colorado.
Barry
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Desertbull
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I have seen this many many times traveling the dirt roads and trails of Baja's backcountry. And as a note to those who haven't traveled much on the
back roads, the ranchers are the law. It's a completely different world and they rule the roost with everything. Always remember that you are the
guest.
DREAM IT! PLAN IT! LIVE IT!
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bajaguy
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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I find it interesting that we are using our NOB brain/thoughts/experiences/feelings to something that is happening SOB.....just doesn't work that way
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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I had to build stout cages in Michoacan to keep possums from slaughtering chickens and rampaging through the nests after eggs. The iguanas were great,
they would end up going after fallen fruit, tender and mature. But the rats! Big rats and they went after tomatoes. The number one attractant for a
rat is a red tomato along the coast. Now I know the value of a pair of Jack Russel dogs.
There is scant little to eat out on the desert. One year I remember being given permission to load the back of a flatbed with corn stalks, many of
which had withered ears. I took them out to a remote area where "minute steaks" (when they turn lengthwise they were so skinny you could barely see
them) were grazing. They smelled the load for many hundreds of meters and came running. They mobbed the truck as I forked over the stalks onto the
ground. There were about seven or eight plus three skinny calves. I had trouble getting back into the cab.
No wonder they render beef about as tender as a Bridgestone radial.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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Skipjack Joe
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Quote: | Originally posted by Barry A.
Less than 30 years ago, in the western ranching areas of the USA, this use to be common practice--------I saw hundreds of coyotes hanging on fences
thruout Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and western Colorado.
Barry |
It's a different world now Barry. Ethics have changed.
People now lament over what the europeans did to the native americans. But isn't this similar. You move in and blast away at anything that's
troublesome, man or beast. There is no attempt to coexist.
We had a rancher here in HMB lose cattle to a local cougar. Do you think anyone was demanding the death of the cougar?
If you can't deal with the problems of living next to a national park or wilderness area then relocate to an area where you feel comfortable. Those
are TODAY'S ethics.
Yes, it's different in baja but I still feel that ranchers (especially that hawk) can do more on their part.
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J.P.
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Never saw it in Baja but up in the Panhandle of Texas where I grew up it was common practice. Back in the day the State paid a 2dlr. Bounty you had to
turn in both ears off the arimal to collect the Bounty.
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Bajaboy
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People complain about the Nanny State north of the border but want more of it south of the border....
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